The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), in collaboration with the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), is hosting, starting the 20th of June, this International Expert Consultation. Scope: consider steps that need to be taken globally to build a framework for data and information sharing for agricultural research for development. The Coherence in Information in Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD) partners organized it, including on the e-agriculture platform the preceding electronic consultation

Some suggestions include developing linked open data, open data repositories, registries of services and data sets, common vocabularies, standards etc. To bring more rapid fruition to the important activity to improve agricultural research for development, additional activities may be needed at various levels (communities, countries, regions) among the various ARD stakeholders and actors such as advocacy, capacity development and collaboration.

As an integral part of the consultation, on 20 June 2011, an Infoshare Market Place will take place where participants and their organizations can share their activities in information sharing. See more at www.egfar.org.

News

Is your research communicated effectively? A global surveyThe survey is being conducted by FAO, CGIAR and GFAR as part of a study on Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD). Researchers working in agriculture and related sciences are invited to share their view on topics as potential gains and concerns of a wider communication of research results, and innovative pathways for better sharing of outputs. The survey takes less than 10 minutes and is available in English, French and Spanish.

Open Access to Scientific Information & AIMSDo you want to know more about resources and activities on Open Access (OA) to Agricultural Research Information? A new section on AIMS provides advice on OA to scientific information in the agricultural research framework, and also on the current activities and projects on OA under the AIMS umbrella.

International Linked Open Data in Libraries, Archives, and Museums Summit The LOD-LAM summit 2-3 June, San Francisco (USA) - convened leaders in their respective areas of expertise from the humanities and sciences to catalyze practical, actionable approaches to publishing Linked Open Data (LOD). The AIMS Team attended the event to discuss topics related to products under the AIMS umbrella, e.g. the LODE-BD Recommendations for bibliographic data, the use of AGROVOC LOD, and bibliographic datasets like AGRIS.

Who are the users of AIMS and what do they think about agricultural information management standards? In this section AIMS users from all around the world answer five questions on the benefits and use of the AIMS website.

Tell us something about yourself... what is your background and role in the organization you are working for?I work for the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute as a System Administrator and offer technical support to the Kenya Agricultural Information Network (KAINet). My background is Information Technology, mainly system administration and development. I have received informal and hands-on training in information management and Library systems. Under both KARI and the KAINet my duties focus especially on issues related to information management sharing and exchange (tools and technologies). In KARI, I worked under the ICMT division to support, develop and manage web and database systems that extensively support the managing and sharing of information. I am also doing research on tools that enable sharing and exchanging of agricultural information.

How did you get in contact with AIMS?The need to manage, share and exchange agricultural information in Kenya brought me to AIMS. FAO, being a major player in offering technical support in agricultural information management, spearheaded the adoption of some of its tools and services through KAINet partner institutions for which I offer technical support. Being interested in tools like WEBAGRIS, AgriDrupal, AgriOcean DSpace and standards like AGROVOC, it is important to be in contact with AIMS for support and interaction.

What is your opinion on AIMS?Very useful site that I visit regularly. Up to date news and events that keep users abreast of the happenings in the agricultural management information field. The tools, services, standards and interactions with other agricultural information managers are very useful in my line of work. Of great importance is also the technical support coming from information professionals active in the AIMS community.

According to you, what is the most important benefit that AIMS provides to the agricultural information management community?AIMS acts as a one stop solution in offering support , since it has various tools, services and standards in management of agricultural information. Added to this the various specialized interactive communities and the CIARD Ring, a resource in itself, I believe AIMS has positioned itself as a one stop solution for agricultural information management communities.

How do you think that information management standards can contribute to agricultural research for development?Information is power. Information management standards ensure accessibility, via sharing and exchange, to relevant information for various stakeholders and hence improve agricultural research and development, regardless the source or format of the information/data. Standards act as the platform for interoperability technologies and enables easy exchange and sharing of information and therefore availing quality information to the agricultural research sector.

The scope of the AIMS Newsletter is to bring under the attention of the AIMS community recent news, events and achievements in the field of agricultural information management. If you have any contribution, suggestion, or need assistance with the newsletter, please contact us at AIMS@fao.org

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